Calabretta IGT Nerello Mascalese Vigne Vecchie 2016 (750ml)

Nerello Mascalese is the red grape of Mount Etna, and in the hands of Calabretta it turns savory and firmly Sicilian. This bottling comes from old vines around Randazzo, on the northwest side of the volcano, where the estate farms parcels that stretch back decades (some over a century, some pre-phylloxera). The 2016 draws on 70-year-old plantings, and it is the kind of wine held back until it is ready to drink rather than pushed out young.

The color runs deeper than you might expect, and the nose leans into savory territory: macerated herbs with a sweet, amaro-like edge, menthol, and baked red plum folding together. What makes it memorable is the salinity, a mouthwatering, almost briny pull that runs alongside ripe tannins and bright acidity. It reads as mature but not tired, with enough structure to hold and evolve slowly. There is real personality here, and it will show well over the next several years.